Chapter 1444 - 782: Jin Family's Lost Treasures (Double Chapter)

After much effort to reach a county town where he could rest, Chen Yi wanted to stay a few more days. As Yin Weiyin had said, there was no need to hurry, the Crown Prince they needed to kill was there and wouldn't escape, and the forces and troops of the Western Jin would not run away either.

In that serene and simple courtyard, Chen Yi couldn't help but think of the courtyard in the Capital City, also a small layout with only a few steps to walk back and forth. Because it was small, it felt like home. The Nanjiang Royal Mansion was nice, but too vast and prosperous. He didn't consider it not home, but always felt it was only half a home.

Only the Capital City and Yin Sword Mountain truly felt like a full home.

The layout of this place was similar to that in the Capital City, and with Yin Weiyin accompanying him here, it felt even more like those times.

Chen Yi rarely felt so relaxed in his mind.

So sometimes, he would occasionally think of Miss Lin from the Lin Family, imagining how she used to always wear a worried face, frowning while stroking her belly. He didn't realize it before, but recalling now, he thought she was so beautiful then.

The sun gradually rose higher, and the water jar in the kitchen was still empty, with no sign of the waiter bringing water.

Chen Yi waited for some time, his eyebrows slightly moving, calculating something with his fingertips inside his sleeve, then looked down at the divination result.

"Might as well go get it myself," he muttered, brushing his sleeve, standing up to leave the courtyard toward the inn.

Just as he exited Willow Alley and hadn't reached the street corner, he heard a commotion and shouting coming from the direction of the inn, chaotic, mixed with the crisp sounds of weapons clashing.

"Treasure under the heaven follows the rule of 'first come, first served!' If you don't leave, don't blame me for disregarding Jianghu sentiments!" a rough voice shouted like thunder, full of energy, clearly having significant inner strength.

"Bullshit! Is this area within a hundred miles run by your family? Is it written with your name?" someone from another group retorted sharply.

"Dare you try to enter this door!" The earlier big man seemed infuriated.

"Just try it…" someone refused to back down, but before they could finish, there was a scream, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground and a series of cries of alarm.

"The hand! Zhao's hand!"

"What a fast blade!"

"Let's fight him!"

"Don't move! Can't you see the blade's edge? If you get closer, it won't just be a hand that gets cut off!"

Amongst the cursing and chaos, for a moment, no one dared to step forward.

Chen Yi paid no heed to these, continuing his way toward the inn entrance. Two groups of people blocked the doorway, brandishing swords, filled with murderous intent, the burly man with a blade standing at the center like an iron tower.

Chen Yi walked straight past them.

Strangely, the big man seemed unaware, not even raising an eyelid. Neither did anyone in the two opposing groups direct their gaze at the scholarly man in blue who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere; their entire focus was intensely on their opponents, tense as if at knife-edge.

Chen Yi slipped through the confrontational crowd and stepped over the inn's threshold.

The hall inside was already in disarray.

Chairs and tables were overturned, bowls and dishes shattered, with fresh bloodstains visible on the ground, clearly showing that two groups of Jianghu guests had clashed.

Chen Yi glanced around the hall and saw a slight trembling behind the counter. He walked over, bent down to look, and sure enough, it was the shopkeeper and the waiter, huddled in the cramped space under the counter, holding their heads, trembling with faces pale as dirt.

Chen Yi knocked on the countertop, calmly saying, "Shopkeeper, where's the well water I asked the waiter to fetch?"

The shopkeeper and waiter flinched in fear, suddenly looked up, and were stunned to see Chen Yi.

The shopkeeper opened his mouth, and the waiter's eyes almost popped out. After a while, they instinctively pointed toward the back kitchen, "In... in the kitchen... the water... the water jar..."

Chen Yi nodded, turned, and walked toward the back kitchen.

After fetching two buckets of well water from the kitchen, more fighting erupted outside the hall, with fists, kicks, and the glint of blades and swords, cries and curses, and the clash of weapons unending.

In the hall, a tall, skinny man wielding an iron mace was being pushed back by a knife-wielding opponent, stumbling toward Chen Yi. With a slight shift of his foot, Chen Yi's body seemed slow yet swift, just gliding between the man and an overturned bench, leaving the man to feel only a breeze across his face. Before he could see clearly, he had inexplicably steadied his form, and his opponent's knife had cut through nothing but air.

On the other side, two men grappling with each other rolled to the ground, blocking the way. Chen Yi lightly tapped a broken bench leg with his toes and floated over like a duckweed.

As he passed by the counter, he flicked his finger, and an inconspicuous triangular folded yellow talisman silently affixed itself to the inconspicuous wooden pillar inside the counter's side, with a flash of light.

At that moment, with a loud bang in the hall, a robust bearded man smashed a thick elm table into pieces with a single palm, wood splinters flying everywhere, a few shards shooting toward Chen Yi's back with force.

Chen Yi seemed unaware, still walking calmly, the splinters halting a foot behind him as if encountering an invisible wall, then dropping to the floor.

He carried two buckets of clear water, safely leaving the inn door, the clamor and fighting sounds continuing behind him.

Back at the courtyard in Willow Alley, Chen Yi started a fire, washed rice, and cut vegetables, his actions skillful.

Before long, the kitchen was filled with the aroma of cooked meals.

While cooking, Chen Yi thought about the fight at the inn.

He didn't know why these people fought, it sounded like a dispute over ownerless treasure, nor did he know which side was good or bad. Chen Yi wasn't Min Ning, who helped wherever there was injustice, intervening in matters wherever things were unfair.

He suddenly recalled Yin Weiyin's words about finding the meaning of life, perhaps in this situation, if there's no need to intervene, it's better to be an Immortal.